System and apparatus for conveying coal



epfm 11,1923. 11,467,845 'kQ-EMAV1S SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING COAL Filed DeC. 12, 1918 4 Sheets-Sheet J w vv y A M WW Ana/Mrs Sept. 11, 11923. 11%1845 .K. DAVIS SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING COAL Filed Dec. 12, 1918 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 TTORlI/EYS Sept. H, 1923. B',%?.%

K. DAVIS SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR CQNVEYING COAL Filed Dec. 12, 1918 V 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Q3 K: v, I

\k f I/ mum/woe 4f BY In Y I Arm/mus Sept. M, 1923. HA6T34 K. DAVIS SYSTEM ANDAPPARATUS FOR CONVEYING COAL Filed Dec. 12, 1918 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 C wron s s llfatented Sept, llll, 1923.

entries stares Ltdhttld PATENT COlFFHCEO reams, or an emperor, rnnnsrnvama.

BYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING COAL.

Application filed December 12, 1918. Serial No. 266,505.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that l, Knnnmar DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Benedict, inthe State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful System and Apparatus for (lonveying Goal, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to'inechanism and devices for handling and'conveying coal from the face of mine rooms or breasts to a car or cars in or adjacent to the entry or heading, irrespective of the position orplace of dislodgement of the coal at the breast or room face and adaptable to the gradual advancement of the breast or room face as the coal is dislodged from the vein.

Objects and advantages of the invention, will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being attained and realized through the steps and instrumentalities pointed out in the appended claims.

llhe invention consists in the novel steps, process, parts, arrangements, constructions, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrate certain steps in the process or system and the present preferred form of the apparatus or mechanism, andtogether with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawings lFi 1 is a diagrammatic plan of a room and Eeadin with my system and apparatus operating t ercin;

Fig. 2 is a similar fragmentary diagram showing the car turned off the heading into the room neck;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, vertical section showing the external end of the fixed path conveyor, and the conveying of the coal into the car;

Fig. l is a fra enlarged scale, 0 associated parts;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevation of the inner end of the conveyor, showing the tension adjustment;

Fig. 6 is a top plan corresponding to Fig. 5; I

Fig. 7 is a top dplan of the scraper of the conveyor; an

mentary elevation, on an the conveyor drive and face, by a mineror Fig. 8 is a side view thereof.

The invention includes mechanism and devices for handling coal, one application thereof being where the coal is dislodged-in relatively small quantities usually consecutively all along or across the room or breast referably by a machine, and is allowed to fall as it may upon the mine floor or bottpm, in any location and iuantity as found desirable or convenient, system of coal conveyance along a fixedpath or route from the general location of the breast or room face to a car or cars in, or just off, the entry or heading is provided. Intermediate between this conveying means and the coal dislodging means, which latter operates as needs be at any point across and along the continuously receding room face, is provided an independently traveling coal conveying or transporting means, capable of pursuing an independent and indeterminate path, that is, capable of travelingto and from any and all points in the room, or breast, and taking up the dislodged coal in substantial quantities from the point of its dislodgement and depositing it in the path or operative reach of the fixed path conveying means.

Objects of the invention are to provide a means for efiiciently and economically conveying coal from the room faces to the entry, especially in low veins, many of which are worked of a thickness of from two to three feet or even of less thickness; to effect such conveyance of the coal while obviatg the necessity of the workmen traveling to and fro in the low veins and avoiding the pushing of cars to and fro therein, and without necessitating the blasting of the top or bottom rock as is frequently done. The cost of blasting the top or bottom rock in the rooms is well-nigh prohibitive as to cost, and the employment of men as car pushers who travel to and fro in the thin veins is not only expensive but is so laborious and uncomfortable that it is difficult to secure workmen for such work.

ldurther objects of the invention are to provide for effecting the objects previously stated without interfering with the timbering or propping of the top rock of the rooms, the props in many cases, aswhere the top rock is broken or rotten, being necessarily placed close together and very close also to the working face of the rooms. Through the realization of the objects specified it is possible to work seams, or veins which by reason of their thinness or-of rotten orother wise bad top rock are unworkable by the usual methods; 1

Referring in detail -to the embodiment illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, the invention is shown applied to a seam or vein of coal of relatively small thickness, say about thirty inches and in said illustrated embodiment the method or system and the apparatus or mechanism is shown applied to the room and sometimes termed a breast and the entry being sometimes termed a heading or gangway. The invention is further exemplified in connection with a mine wherein the entry f is blasted out at the bottom/to give the requisite headroon'i. It will be understood that in its broader aspects the invention is applicable to coal veins of various thickness, to other kinds of minerals, and to other systems of mining.

entry In such illustrated exem'plificatiou, the 1 is shown. with the bottom portion thereof 2 blasted out below the level ofthe floor, of the vein 3 of coal. The heading 1 is provided with a track 4 for the coal cars 30 5.

A room 6 is shown opened off from the heading 1, the coal being dislodged or removed from the face 7, and the working face of the room thereby receding gradually from the heading a continuallyincreasing distance, due to the mining or dislodgeme'nt of the. coal.

Thecommon practice in the past has been to run a track from the entry track\into-.

and along the entire length of the. room. such track being extended as the face 7 0t 'tlIG IOOm recedes, owing to the removal of the coal. '1 and loatledwith coal at the face of the room, and are then pushed back along the room track to the heading or "entry. This method of handling coal is expensive. laborous and slow, as well as having other drawthe way frequently oftimbering, blasting, or other work. 7 p

' 'i All these disadvantages are avoided by my inethod or system and by'the apparatus or mechanism herein described and large eco rnomies are also realized by my invention.

entry system of mining," the room being Cars are run in from the heading as the mining machine progresses in its work, and the conveyor is in In the embodied exemplification, an endless conveyor traveling along a'relatively fixed path is provided. In the embodied form, a sheave 15 is located at or neartho mouth of the room, and a cooperating sheave 'veyor can be made at convenience and after 1e atively considerableadvances of the room.

face, and it is not necessary to keepthis inner end of the conveyor in constant and close proximity either to the room face or to the mining machine as is the case with the usual conveyors. This is due to the fact that the intermediate and freely or independently traveling loader is employed between the room face and the conveyor just described.

Thus Iterm'the conveyor a relatively .fixed path conveyor by reason of the advantages set forth.

Referring to the detailed structure of the present preferred exemp'lification. the outer sheave 15 is carried upon a stub shaft 18 mounted in a pedestal 19 carried on a base 20. The sheave 15' is preferably positioned at an angle or inclination from the h0rizon-- tal, and is preferably employed as the driving sheave. The embodied form of driving means comprises a motor 21, mounted on the base 20, and having a pinion 22 upon the motor shaft meshing with the crown gear 23 on the sheave l5.

The inner sheave 16 as embodied, ism'ovable to regulate the tension oncable 17, and for this purpose is journalcd in a block Over these sheaves travels 34. which block is 'slidable in a guidway in a horizontal arm 35, said arm terminating in a T head 36 bolted to a jack post 37. post 37 is provided with the usual or Jack suitab e means 38 for fastening it; in posi. tion between the mine roof and floor. At: tached tothe sliding journal block 34 is a cable 39, running over pulleysiO, 41. and 42,

and having attached theretoa weight 43. The weight 43 thus keeps proper tension at all times upon the cable 17 running over the sheaves l5 and- 16.

The embodied form of coal conveying means comprises one or more bottomless scrapers 44. attached to the cable '17 by a relatively short staging or towline 45. In the embodied detailed constructionof the scraper 4 it isp'rovided with reinforcing bottom and top flanges 46, and has at th forward top end thereof a reinforcing yoke 47 to permit itspassing readily through a pile of coal in its .path. The scraper on its llti inner side, that is, the side which ponies into engagement with the sheave isconcaved as shown at 48, so that the scraper will pass readily, neatly and closely about the sheave without slewing or slipping.

The embodied form of means for discharging the coal from the bottomless scraper into the car comprises a sloping platrising outwardly and extendingon each side and past or about the sheave 15. lin this platform is provided a trap or opening 51 beneath and about which is a chute 52 adapted to direct the coal into the waiting car 5. A guidingstrip 53 may be provided on the platform 50' to guide the scraper at to th side of the sheave l5 sothat'it may pass therearound. The platform 50. maybe provided with a hinge joint 58, so that it may be raised and thus leave free headroom above the entry track, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

Tn Fig. 2 of the drawings a form of the platform and track is shown which leaves the heading track clear of loading or loaded cars where this is desirable. In this form a short spur track 54' is turned into the room neck or mouth of-just about sufiicient length so that a car turned in thereon will be clear ofthe heading track. Tt'will be understood that this track need not be extended as the taceof the room advances, its purpose being merely to leave the heading track clear. This is desirable where a plurality of locomotives or teams are employed in drawing out cars along a single heading.

Referring now to the means and method employed in supplying there'latively fixed scribed therein are omitted, and

conveyor. with coal as it is dislodged at various points or places across the mine face, and as the mine taco recedes or progresses inwardlyg due tothe dislodgment of tlficoal, a mining machine is employed, whichmay be or the general type shownvin my copending application for patent, Ser. No. 247,240, excepting that the coal conveying means del the coal as it is dislodged by the cutting ring is permitted to fall directly and as it will onto the mine floor. As the machine passes across the room face, the piles of dislodged coal 61 are left behirid, and they are obviously out of the operative reach of-the fixed path conveyor already described and at difi'ere'nt distances therefrom and in difierent positional relationsthereto.

y ently and freely traveling loading machine 62, such as is shown and described in my copending application Ser. No. 247,240 which is capable of running over the mine bottom without being in any required or predetermined relation to either the mining machine or the relatively fixed path conveyor, is employed to pick up the dislodged coal 61 from in. the path form 50 built at the roonineck or mouth and lit will thus my present invention, an independthe mine bottom and to deposit it in position to be taken by the scrapers 4 1 and to be conveyed thereby over the room floor and to be dumped into the car or cars 5 in the heading. The coal may be conveyed from the piles 61 wherever they may be left by the mining machine and dumped in a pile 63 of th scraper or scrapers be seen that the independently traveling loader 62 will maintain an 0 erative relation between themining mac inc and the relatively fixedpath conveyor, without requiring any osition or relation therebetween. The mining machine is thus unencumbered by any conveyor mechanism of any'kind, and the relatively fixed'path conveyor need not be kept in any definite or predetermined relation either to the mine face or the mining machine.

Means are provided for gripping or pressing the cable to'sheave 15, and as embodied. there are provided on the sheave a series of cable gripping members or fingers 64. These fingers are pivotally mounted at 65 upon the sheave 15, and have their tails 66 provided with track rollers 67.,which rollers run along an annular track 68 mounted on the pedestal 19. Springs 69 hold the rollers 67 "to the track 68 and provide gripping pressure of the fingers upon the cable. The track 68 is shaped so that the fingers 6 1 firmly grip the cable 17 at .the front part of sheave 15 and release the cable as they pass toward the back or inner portion of the sheave. Thus the traveling cable is firmly held to the rotating fixed or predetermined v sheave at all times and slippage is prevented.

mouth of a room, a sheave 1n fixed position relatively thereto, a sheave near-the room iface, supporting means therefor removable from one POSllZlOIl to another, an endless cable running over-said sheaves, and a bottomless scraper connected to by the endless cable in a unidirectional, less path.

2. A coal conveying device including in combination a pair of sheaves, one located near the room face and one located near the entry, sheaves, a platform with a trap therein near the entry sheave,'a chute for directing the coal passing through the trap into a car standingron the entry track, and a bottomless scraper connected to and dragged by said endless cable.

3. A coal conveying enddevice including in and dragged combination a sheave at the room neck, a sheave near the room face and a movable nioiintiii therefor including a post carrying the s lieave and mounting, means for detachably securing the post between themine top and bottom, an endless cable running over the sheaves, means for applying tension to the cable and bottomless scrapers drawn by the cable.

' 4. A coal conveying device including in combination a sheave at the room neck, a

' mountin scraper into a car on the track.

5. A coal conveying device including in combination a platform with a discharge opcning therein, a sheave at the platform,

an endless cable'running over the sheave, a cable guiding and supporting sheave at the opposite end of the path of the cable, a bottomless scraper attached to the cable and passing over said opening to discharge its 6. A coal conveying device including in combination a platform with a dischargev therein, a sheave at the platform,

openin an end ess cable running over the sheave, a cable guiding and supporting sheave at the opposite end of the path of the cable, a bottomless scraper attached to the cable and assing over said opening to discharge its oad, means for driving one of the sheaves, and gripping devices on said sheave for grasping the cable to drive the; cable with the sheave.

7. A coal conveying device includin in combination an endless cable arrange in parallel reaches, means for driving and supporting and guiding the cable including a sheave at either end of the path of the cable, a bottomless scraper and a staging line attachingit to the cable and a platform with i an opening in the path of the bottomless scraper.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification 1n thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

KENNETH DaVIS. I

. Witnesses:

F. D. PEALE, RICHARD Pastas, 

